NATO leaders at a summit in Vilnius; The Lithuanian capital have agreed that Ukraine’s future lies within the alliance but declined to offer an invitation or a timetable for the country’s accession to NATO.
This statement states that NATO will invite Ukraine to join the alliance if the allies agree and the conditions are met.
Although NATO leaders did not specify the conditions that Ukraine would have to meet, they said that NATO would help Kiyv make progress on the military and security front.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says: “We reaffirmed that Ukraine will become a member of NATO. And agreed to remove the requirement for a membership action plan. This will change Ukraine’s membership path from a two-step process to a one-step process. We also made clear that we will issue an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO when conditions are met.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that Kyiv accepts that it cannot join NATO because it is at war with Russia, but wants to join NATO as soon as possible after the war ends.
Zelensky said at the Lithuania meeting that Ukraine will make NATO stronger and NATO will make Ukraine safer.
“Today here in Vilnius, we have a Ukrainian flag from the battlefield in Bakhmut. Bakhmut is one of the biggest battles for freedom in Europe, it will be remembered by your grandparents and our grandsons. I come here today believing in the partners, believing in a strong NATO, a NATO that does not doubt, does not waste time and does not turn its head toward any aggressor. Ukraine will make NATO stronger and NATO will make Ukraine safer.”
Earlier Mr Zelensky said there seemed to be “no readiness” to invite Ukraine to Nato or make it a member.
In the two-day meeting of the heads of 31 NATO members and other high-ranking politicians held in Lithuania, in addition to Sweden’s accession to this military pact, the continuation of military aid to Kyiv was emphasized.
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